Persecution of Ms. Zhang Yujuan from Heilongjiang Province

22 October 2008

Ms. Zhang Yujuan, 45, is from Wuchang City. Since she started practising Falun Gong in April 1998, she has done her best to follow the standard of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in her daily life, and everyone who knows her regards her as a very good person. However, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has persecuted her, bringing countless hardships to her and her family members.

On November 16th, 2000, Ms. Zhang went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practise Falun Gong. Wuchang Municipal Police Department assistant commissioner Chen Shusen, and Political Security Section officer Liu Fang (female), contacted the security division of Ms. Zhang's workplace and pressured them to come to Beijing to arrest her and take her home.

After being jailed for seven days, the police allowed a family member to take Ms. Zhang home, but not before they extorted 1000 yuan1 from her. When the family member asked for a receipt to show how much they paid, the police refused.

On February 9th, 2002, a few days before the Chinese New Year, Wuchang Municipal Police Department instigated another round of large-scale arrests of local practitioners. The police told Ms. Zhang's employer, "If she does not write a guarantee statement to give up Falun Gong, you must take her to a forced labour camp." In order to avoid being persecuted, Ms. Zhang did not celebrate the New Year holiday with her family. Instead, she left home to avoid being arrested.

On October 16th, 2002, Zhan Zhigang and fellow police officers from the State Security Division drove to Ms. Zhang's workplace to arrest her and take her to a brainwashing centre. When Ms. Zhang did not show up for work that day, Zhan threatened her work unit saying, "If you don't take Ms. Zhang to a brainwashing centre, you must dismiss her and withhold her salary and bonus."

In June 2003, 610 Office2 chief Fu Yanchun (female), and agent Mo Zhenshan, pressured Ms. Zhang's work unit to force Ms. Zhang to write a guarantee statement. They said that if she didn't sign it, they would do everything in their power to prevent her child from attending college. However, shortly thereafter, the 610 Office abandoned their plan.

On June 9th, 2004, Zhan and Fu, along with two subordinates, drove to Ms. Zhang's home to arrest her and take her to a local brainwashing centre. Zhan knocked on her door saying, "We have caught several people who we don't recognize. Please come outside and help us verify their identities." Ms. Zhang easily saw through their plot and refused to open her door. After the four officers saw that they weren't getting anywhere, they gave up and left.

On the morning of March 9th, 2005, Zhan, Fu, Mo and another officer sat in a car near Ms. Zhang's home, waiting for her to return. On her way home from work, Ms. Zhang spotted them and therefore did not enter her home.

On April 4th, 2005, these same four persecutors arrested Ms. Zhang at the entrance of her work unit. After struggling with Ms. Zhang for ten minutes, they finally managed to shove her into a taxi cab that they hired. The taxi driver said, "If I knew ahead of time that you would behave like this, I wound not have provided service to you!"

The police instructed the driver to take them to the local brainwashing centre. After arriving, they tried to force Ms. Zhang to write a guarantee statement. When she refused, they transferred her to the local detention centre.

On April 14th, Zhan took Ms. Zhang to the Wanjia Forced Labour Camp (currently known as Qianjin Forced Labour Camp) without following any legal proceedings. Since Ms. Zhang failed the labour camp's physical exam, they refused to accept her. Feeling frustrated, Zhan began to threaten the labour camp officials. When he saw that his threats were not working, he started bribing them with gifts. Using his personal connections, he managed to get Ms. Zhang sentenced to two years of forced labour.

Zhang Bo, chief of the Seventh Team, humiliated Ms. Zhang in every way imaginable. Because she did not cooperate with them and refused to join the CCP, Zhang Bo tortured her by having her stand and squat for long periods of time. He also forced her to perform up to 16 hours of hard labour per day. After her release, Ms. Zhang found that her work unit had dismissed her, so she was forced to find employment elsewhere.

In July 2008, on the eve of the Beijing Games, the Street Residents' Committee and the local police visited Ms. Zhang's home to harass her. Since Ms. Zhang was not home, they were unable to arrest her.

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

2. "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.